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As a landlord and a solicitor I think landlords should have more not less say. No doubt some landlords don't understand "the defences and counter-claims available to tenants, as well as the built-in safeguards within the legal process" but they do understand that delay and obfuscation (and downright dishonest defences and counterclaims) are very helpful to defaulting tenants.

In a claim for poor service or shoddy goods, the claimant is not locked in to a relationship with the delinquent supplier. In possession cases, where the tenant is not paying the rent, landlords are involuntary creditors and in many cases have little prospect of recovering months of arrears. It is naive to think that "signposting parties to advice and information to ensure cases are dealt with in a timely and efficient manner" will encourage tenants to speed up the process. Tenants who can't or won't pay want to and are encouraged by the CAB and Shelter to spin things out.

Something needs to change. Judges need to throw out unmeritorious defences quickly, punish parties who lie under oath and treat a tenant who has misled his landlord to secure a tenancy as a fraudster and not as an innocent fallen on hard times. In addition something needs to be done about Councils telling tenants that unless they ignore court orders and wait until the bailiffs evict them,the Council will not re-house them. Perhaps a housing court with specialist judges is the answer or fast track claims to those judges..